Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Sugar Cookies

The Mission: Christmas Cookie Recipe #4

Mmmm. Sugar cookies. Yum. Now - I'm incredibly lazy and didn't make the cut-outs. These are just round cookies. But to spruce them up for Christmas time, I roll them in red or green sugar. It makes them much more festive!

The Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter (use real butter - not margarine)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2 and 2/3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

The Instructions:

Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs. Add the vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until blended. Gradually add in the flour and mix well. I find that chilling the dough for a little while makes assembling the balls a little bit easier. I also recommend having a cookie scoop. Scoop out dough by rounded tablespoon and roll into a ball with your hands. Then roll that ball into sugar - I use colored sugar.... it's more fun. Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2" apart. Bake in a preheated 375*F oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

The Result:

Yummy! (I think I overuse the word 'yummy,' but I don't care.) They turned out very nicely and I found a new method to the madness. I will clean my kitchen counter until it's completely sanitary. Then I will scoop out all the cookie dough straight onto the counter. Then I'll roll each scoop into a ball and roll into the colored sugar. Once they're coated in sugar, the balls won't stick to the plate where I'll put them until they're ready to go in the oven. It saved a ton of time, and a ton of mess! Not to mention you're never caught with sugar dough all over your hands when the timer goes off on a batch of cookies!

The Reviews:

The guys loved them. The husband was thrilled that I didn't change recipes, so I kept him happy. All in all - an excellent choice for Christmas Cookie give-aways. They were devoured at our friends' Christmas party and I got compliments all night. Hooray!